33 / 206
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(ARCTIC.) Armstrong, Alexander.
A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of
the North-West Passage.
Hand-colored folding map, frontispiece plate. xxii, [2], 616
pages. 8vo, publisher’s cloth, minor wear; minor wear to map; early bookseller’s tag on rear
pastedown. (MRS)
London, 1857
[2,000/3,000]
FIRST EDITION
.
Firsthand account of Robert McClure’s 1850-54 voyage in search of Franklin which
resulted in the discovery of the Northwest Passage; written by the surgeon and naturalist aboard the
HMS Investigator. “When scurvy became a dangerous problem, Armstrong’s careful provisioning and
medical attention ensured the crew’s survival until they were finally rescued by Captain Kellett. . . . In
1857, following publication of this work, Armstrong was also awarded the Gilbert Blane gold medal
for the best journal kept by surgeons in the Royal Navy”—Hill 34. Arctic Bibliography 682; Sabin
2017; TPL 3408.
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(ARCTIC.) Franklin, John.
Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar
Sea
and
Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea.
4 and 6
folding maps (2 hand-colored), 31 and 31 plates (12 of them hand-colored). xv, 783 [1];
xxiv, 320, clvii, [2] pages. 2 volumes. 4to, library cloth, moderate wear; intermittent foxing,
two of the maps worn but complete; inked stamps of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary on
front pastedowns and title pages.
London, 1823 and 1828
[1,500/2,500]
FIRST EDITIONS
of Franklin’s first two Canadian Arctic expeditions from 1819-22 and 1825-27,
including supplementary reports by other survivors. In the first expedition, Franklin’s party was
reduced to eating the leather in their shoes and lost 11 of 20 men, mostly to starvation, but they also
charted vast expanses which had been previously unknown to Europeans. Franklin and his entire
129-man crew died on his third Arctic expedition, 1845-1848. Abbey Travel 635.
[
SEE ILLUSTRATION OVERLEAF
]
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